Saturday, February 11, 2023

US Sanctions 6 Chinese Tech Companies Over Balloon Program

The suspected Chinese spy balloon drifts to the ocean after being shot down off the coast in Surfside Beach, South Carolina, U.S. February 4, 2023. Randall Hill | Reuters  

CNBC: U.S. sanctions six Chinese tech companies for supporting spy balloon programs 

* A new round of U.S. sanctions will target six Chinese aerospace companies identified as supporting the nation’s military’s reconnaissance balloon program, the Commerce Department announced Friday. 

* The sanctions were imposed just hours after an American military F-22 shot down the second “high altitude object” to enter U.S. airspace in the past week. 

* The firms will join a growing list of companies based in China that the U.S. says pose serious threats to national security. 

WASHINGTON — The Commerce Department announced a new round of sanctions Friday targeting six Chinese aerospace companies that it identified as supporting the nation’s military’s reconnaissance balloon program.

The firms will join a growing list of companies based in China that the U.S. says pose serious threats to national security. The sanctions announcement came just hours after an American military F-22 shot down the second “high altitude object” to enter U.S. airspace in the past week.

“The PRC’s use of high-altitude balloons violates our sovereignty and threatens U.S. national security,” said Alan Estevez, undersecretary of commerce for industry and security, using the acronym for the People’s Republic of China.

Read more .... 

US Sanctions 6 Chinese Tech Companies Over Balloon Program  

US blacklists 6 Chinese entities over balloon program -- AP  

U.S. adds 6 Chinese entities tied to balloon program to export blacklist -- Reuters  

US restricts 6 Chinese companies tied to airships and balloons -- CNN  

US adds six China entities tied to balloon programme to export blacklist -- CNA  

US blacklists six Chinese entities over balloon program -- DW

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not much in the media about the the second “high altitude object” shot down in Alaska. Except that it was not a balloon and was about the size of a car. a drone of some sort? I wish the press would get off their lazy asses and so some work.

Hans Persson said...

Yes that one is way more interesting than these strawman balloons.

Anonymous said...

It was Al Gore's member. He finally managed to free willy.

No help from a massage therapist needed this time.

Anonymous said...

at least he has a member, sir castrato

Anonymous said...

Chinese Balloon Was Capable of Spying on Communications, US Says

Anonymous said...

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/02/pentagon-shoots-down-unidentified-flying-object-over-alaska

Most aspects of this object, however, are still unknown, but what we do know seems markedly different from last week’s spy balloon. Not only was it much smaller than the surveillance balloon, Kirby said, but, “We do not know who owns it, whether it's state-owned or corporate-owned or privately owned.”

According to the Pentagon, an F-22 fighter aircraft based at Alaska’s Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson shot down the object on Friday using an AIM-9X short-range air-to-air missile, the same type used to take down the balloon nearly a week ago.

The president’s recent response came in sharp contrast to his response to the spy balloon; he was lambasted for not downing the surveillance balloon sooner. One notable difference, Pentagon officials pointed out, was that Friday’s object was floating over water, so it didn’t pose the same risks as the spy balloon, which spent days flying over populated areas across the country.

The New York Times reported that Defense officials are still unsure as to how to categorize the object because it shattered when it hit the frozen water, making it difficult to determine whether it was a drone or a balloon, or something else entirely.

Anonymous said...

it shattered when it hit the frozen water!!

Gillitine inthusiest said...

More of the same sanctions that were gunna cripple Russia lol usa administration is a joke

Anonymous said...

12:10 is a former, retired copy and paste special.

Forget composition and spelling analysis, pattern analysis shows 12:10 is definitely former, retired.

Very special.

Anonymous said...

Don't knock Fred. I for one am happy he excerpted the Vanity Fair article. Otherwise we would never have known an F22 shot down the Chinese spycraft. We'd been clueless without his help.

Anonymous said...

Phred sez
do not blame the press. they only get what is at any given time available to them. Thus far we do not have the wreckage of either the balloon or the smaller sphere. When both are studied more will be available to the press and then to the public. We do know the balloon carried spy equipment. We also learn that we might have (not really told specifically) tricked the thing by feeding it false info. And we do know or at least are told that nothing of great significance was scooped up from the balloon overflight of military places. We also know that China had been using such devices for some time and are now out of sorts by our owning their equipment.

Anonymous said...

So happy 12:10 copy and pasted a whole article without commentary. We could never have looked up an article ourselves nor followed one of the links provided by WNU.

Anonymous said...

PhreD sez: "do not blame the press"

I do blame the press. Over half of them are semi-illiterate morons our to save the world. What a dangerous combo. Over half are cheer leaders for the Democrats.


It is made clear in the excerpt below.

But Rhodes makes it clear that selling this lie to the press was easy. “The average reporters is 27 years old, and their only reporting experience consists of being around political campaigns. ... They literally know nothing.”

One of Rhodes’s assistants, Ned Price, adds still more to this demeaning picture. He actually calls reporters “force multipliers,” going on to describe how “we have our compadres, I will reach out to a couple people ... and I’ll give them some color, and the next thing I know ... they’ll be putting the message out on their own.”


Scary excerpt. We got rid of Ben Rhodes we think, but he was replaced by his clueless protege, Ned.

Anonymous said...

look, bitch
if you can do it, then why the fuck had you not done it? If you get something not given by our nice editor, it is a plus...why try to make it a minus? oh, that time of the month and you have a period.

Last week, a Chinese surveillance balloon floating over the United States set off a political firestorm in Washington. It also offered a glimpse into the secret world of intelligence gathering, where countries are racing to harness new technologies that will help them gain a competitive edge. But these same new technologies are making spycraft, especially the collection of human intelligence, far more challenging.

To adapt to these changes, Amy Zegart, a Stanford professor and the author of the book "Spies, Lies, and Algorithms," believes the U.S. government should overhaul the way the intelligence community is organized. In a new essay for Foreign Affairs, she argues that a new intelligence agency dedicated to open-source intelligence is needed if the United States is going to keep up. If not, she writes, “a culture of secrecy will continue to strangle the adoption of cutting-edge technical tools from the commercial sector.”

Anonymous said...

and NO. You would not get this on your own. So: if you moan, then do not read it. Move on. Stop bitching and let others decide.

It’s Debatable: Chinese Spy Balloon, Biden State of the Union

Anonymous said...

ok. you can but do not goggle. Instead you baby-like badmouth someone who does bother to dig up stuff. Now this below is from a very right of center paper. Don't bother to read if you are contemptuous of reporters and news (whee do you think the editor of this site gets his aggregated stuff from?
President Biden dropped an ominous note into his remarks to American service members at a Virginia military base Friday, telling them that his Chinese counterpart believes Beijing will “own America” inside the next 15 years.

“We’re in a battle between democracies and autocracies,” Biden told troops at Joint Base Langley Eustis in Hampton. “The more complicated the world becomes, the more difficult it is for democracies to come together and reach consensus.

“I’ve spent more time with President Xi [Jinping] of China than any world leader has — for 24 hours of private meetings with him with just an interpreter, 17,000 miles traveling with him in China and here,” the president added. “He firmly believes that China, before the year [20]30, ’35, is going to own America because autocracies can make quick decisions.”

The president did not elaborate on what was meant by “own America.” He made no other mention of China during his 23-minute remarks.

Anonymous said...

That was not Fred that posted the Vanity Fair article, friends, that was me, Mr. Anonymous, anonymous because I protect my identify on social media to avoid cancellation by leftist extremists and social justice warriors. And yes, I forgot to put quotes, and yes, I copy and pasted, The intent was to provide information concerning the topic at hand: the 2nd shootdown by the USA of a "unidentified object" over Alaska.

Anonymous said...

At times I will except 2 or 3 paragraphs at a time. It should be used infrequently. But a link or excerpt of any length should have some commentary as to why you think it is important or what you think about it.

But you put out link and excerpts out there like you take a dump at Speakers Corner at 12 noon on Sunday.

Anonymous said...

Read it sez. Yup, like taking a dump at Speakers Corner at Sunday noon.

Anonymous said...

so get a grip on yourselves

Anonymous said...

It was what I was saying about you, you self important fart.

Anonymous said...

ho ho ho
your comments? nothing but the shit kids spout in schoolyards at middle school.
You dislike the press? where do you think all the articles at this site come from?
did you google or miss this (the following)?
Many Chinese firms are moving operations to Mexico because costs for shipping and difficulties getting to difficult. Now that is a brief summary and not copy/paste so what shit will you snarl now to show your maturity?

Anonymous said...

since you are skilled in goggling, ie searching, how did you miss the fact that Canada shot down what is now the third missile to violate ally airspace?

Trudeau says unidentified object was shot down over northern Canada

Anonymous said...

I am not skilled at goggling like you are.

At 3:17 I did not say I was unhappy with the press or specifically Vanity Fair. What I said, was that you took dumps. i.e. plastered seemingly whole articles.

You do realize that a plurality if not most reporting by various newspapers and magazines comes from a handful of source like the AP?

Also many sites lie by omission which you have never admitted. They have shown themselves to be partisan including the AP, the font of much 'reporting'.